Actuating apparatus for theater curtains



Dec. 6, 1927. v 1,651,985

E. F. ALLEN ACTUATING APPARATUS FOR THEATER CURTAINS v Filed April 14, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Dem-6, 1927. 1,651,985

- E. F. ALLEN ACTUATING APPARATUS FOR THEATER CURTAINS Filed A ril 14, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 vPatented Dec. 6, 192 7. 7'

v i UNITED STATES EARLE r. ALLEN, or CAMBRIDGE;MASSACHUSETTS.

AC'IUATING ArrA taros For. THE R ounri ins.

iApplication'filedApril le,1924. seriaim. 706,421. 1.

This invention pertains to actuating apmovement; to provide means for'positively paratus for theater curtains, and the like, and relates more particularly to power driven mechanism for raising and lowering theater curtains, drops, fire screens, etc.

Principal objects of the invention are to provide power driven apparatus by means of which one or more curtains or drops may be raised or lowered rapidly and evenly; to provide automatic means for stopping such power driven apparatus whenthe curtain or drop has reached the permissive limit of locking the curtain or drop when raised; to provide means capable of ,manipulating a plurality .of curtains or drops either separately or simultaneously; and to provide such apparatus with controlling means capable of actuation at apoint remote from the driving mechanism. r

In the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by wayof example, and'in such drawings,-- Fig. 1 is an elevatiompartly diagrammatic, looking from the theater stage toward the proscenium arch and showing the curtain dropped and the lifting. mechanism in position to initiate raising'of the curtain;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view to larger scale of a partof the device of Fig. 1; Fig.- 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; r o Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section substantially on the line 4- 1 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, to somewhat smaller scale, of the drive mechanism shown in Fig. 2 but omitting some of the parts;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating a modified arrange ment; g I r Fig. 8 is 'a diagrammatic view illustrating a modified form of control apparatus; andv Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a modification permitting the curtain to be tilted.

Referring to the drawings, thenumeral 1 indicates the level of the stage floor, while the numeral 2 indicates the proscenium arch which is indicated inldotted lines. The curtain 3 is carried by a suitable support 4 and; is provided with a rail or barv5 at its lower *edge. Lifting cables 5 attached at their lower ends to the bar .5 extend upwardly in substantially parallel runs to guide pulleys 6 arranged at the level of or above the usual fly gallery. The cables 5? preferably pass through loops or rings 7 -upo'nithe curtain in order to insure the proper folding of the latter as it rises. While the curtain here illustrated is of thattype whichis gathered into. folds as it rises, the invention is not in any manner restricted to use with this type of curtain, and the cables 5?" may be attached to the curtain either at the top or bottom in accordance with the type of curtain employed. 7

From the pulleys 6 the several cables pass laterally to pulleys 8 carried by a suitable supporting bracket 9. From these pulleys the several cablespass downwardly in substantially vertical runs 5? through perforations or openings in a guide member 10 and are secured at their lower ends to a bar 11. Therupper end of a cable 12 is secured to the middle of the bar 11 while its lower end is carried to a convenient point where it may be secured to a cheat 13 or other desirable fastening means, while this mode of securing the bar 11 is preferable, as it permits adjustment of the bar for taking up slack in the cables 5 it is contemplatedthat the bar 11 may be a fixed member if desired.

The numeral 14 indicates a' pulley block having a series of pulleys which engage the runs 5 respectively of the cables 5 An actuating cable 15 is secured to the end of the pulley block 14 and after passing over a drive pulley 16 mounted upon a shaft 17 ex tends upwardly and over a guide pulley 18 and has a counter-balance weight 19 secured to its extremity. This counter-balance weight is sufliciently heavy substantially to balance the weight of the curtain, thus permitting the latter to be moved up and down with little effort. i

The curtain controlling apparatus thus far described is shown as applied ,to a single curtain, but it is contemplated that similar arrangements and apparatus will beprovided for each of the curtains or drops which 7 it is desired to control. by the improved mechanism. For this purpose the shaft 17 is of a length suflicient to support the necessary number of drive pulleys, several such pulleys being indicated in Fig. 6 where they are designated by the numerals 16, 16 16", and 16,-

respectively. 'As the control mechanism for each of these pulleys is similar, it is necessary to describe but'one of such mechanisms in detail. 1 V r i i Ill) Referring particularly to Figs. 2471 inclusive, the shaft 1.? is shown as men. ted to turn in bearings carried by spaced brackets 18' and 19. This shaft is tut-rushed. with a driving pinion 20 which meshes with a pinion 21 carried by the shaft oil a. reversible electric motor 22. This motor is mounted upon a suitable support and is controlled by a. switch 23 arranged at any convenient point. By manipulation of this switch, the motor shaft may be caused to rotate in either direction, thus turning the shaft 17 in either direction at the will of the operator.

The pulley 1G is furnished with one element ill of a. driving clutch, the. other element of which is splincd to the shaft. l? to turn tl'ierewith, icing free to slide axially thereon. Normally the clutch elements arc disengaged so that the shaft 17 may "urn Without turning the pulley.

The clutch elements are caustal to cn nigc by means 0!? a. controlling aria ill) pivoted to a suitable support andv provided with a. forked extremity 15 which engages a circumferential groove 28 in lhi axially mow able clutch element 2:). The opposite end of the arm 26 is furnished with an eye .29 to which one end oil? a flexible conuectitm 30 is secured. This flexible connection, which may be a. cord, chain or cable, passes over guide pulleys 8 and thence to a control station at any convenient point, it being understood that the cords -ltl corresponding to each of the pulleys l6, 16, etc. preferably lead to the same controlv station.

In Fig. 8 a moditied arrangement of means for actuating the clutch engaging arm is shown. In thismodilicd a rangeinent the (0rd or cable 30 is replaced by an iron bar 32 constituting the core of a solenoid 5111. This solenoid is connected by nians of a. conductor let to asuitable source of electrical energy and may be controlled by a. switch 35 mounted upon a switch board ill). Other switches upon the same board may control the other clutch actuating device-i, and if desired the motorcontrolling switch 23 may also be mounted upon the same board.

The clutch i.:ontrolling arm :26 in tarnished with a. bracket member 37 carrying a pin 38 adapted to engage any one oi a z-cries ol openings 39 in the web or race of the pulley 16, the arrangement being such that when the clutch is disengaged the pin enters one of said openings, thus locking the pulley against rotation.

A toggle link 39 is pivotally connected to the u per end of the clutch actuating arm 26. X second toggle link eltl is pivot-ally secured to a fixed bracket 4i, and the ends of the links 39 and 40 are connectedby a ti link 42.

A bracket 43 provides a fulcrum for a two-armed lever, one arm 4-3 of which is manner pulley 18 in two substantially parallel, oppositely moving runs 15 and 15*, (Fig. 2) respectively. The arm member it; lies substantially in the plane otthe pulley 1(3 and is furnished with apertures for the passage of the runs 15 and lfl", respectively, of the wide. Spring positioning cups 4? and 4.7 are secured to the arm member -16 in concentric relation to these respective openings and springs 48 and 48 are secured within the respective cups. These sn-ings encircle the cable and are preferably furnished with annular washers 4-9 and it), respectively at their outer ends.

The cable runs 15" and 1,5" are furnished with adjustable stops 50 and 50, respectively. These steps preferably comprise split.

screw-t]n'eaded eeves having nuts 51 and 515", respectively, for clamping them. to the cable. i

In Fig. 1 the parts are shown as pos1- tioned with thecurtain fully dropped and as thus disposed the stops 50 and 50 are located substantially as indicated in the fig urc. To raise the curtain, the operator closes switch 23 to cause the motor to drive shaft .17 in the proper direction, this being a clockwise direction, as shownin llig. .1. lie then manipulates the cord 30 or the switch '55 corresponding to the particular curtain or drop which is to be raised so as to cause the corresponding clutch 25 to engage its pulley and lock the latter tothe shaft. y

The movement of the clutch actuating arm ill: to engage the clutch parts simultaneously discngages the locking pin from the pulley and the cable 15 immediately begins to move in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l. thus permitting the counterweight- .19 to descend and at the same time pulling the block 14- laterally to the right. as viewed in said ligurc. This movement of the pulley block .l-ldraws the runs 5 of the several curtain cables laterally to Form bights which thus ellectively diminish the lengths ol. the said cables, causing the curlain to rise. i

s the curtain apprtuiches the upper limit ot' its movement the stop 50 comes into eugagenicutflwith the collar or washer 49 thus coni in'essiug the spring 48 and finally causing it arin ill to swing downwardly. This moves the arm 43" to the left as viewed in Fig. 4, breaking the toggle connections 39, all, and t2 and swinging the actuating arm 26 tothe left as viewed in Fig. 3. This throws the clutch out of engagement, stops lil the cable, and at the; same time moves the pines into engagement with the pulley so that the parts are. locked and the curtain is held in elevatedposition. f

In lowering the curtain, substantially the same operation takes place with the exception that the shaft 17 is first caused to turn in the opposite direction. As the curtain descends, the stop 50 gradually approaches the washer 49 and after compressing the spring 48 again actuates the arm 4:7 to throw the clutch out of engagement.

The modifiedarrangement illustrated in Fig. 7 is employed when there is sufiicient space laterally of the-curtain to permit the shaft 17 to be placed substantially at the level of the fly gallery.

In this arrangement the upper ends of the several cables 5?, afterpassing over-the pulleys 8' are all united directly to the end of the actuating cable 15,-the latter then passplate 10 and the bar 11 are furnished with rocker members 10 and 11*, respectively, which normally engage each other. The cord 12 is replaced by a cord 12. secured at its ends tothe opposite ends of the bar and falling in a closed loop to the desired point of manipulation. Suitable retaining means such for example as a clamp 12 or cleat 12 or both may be provided for holding the cord 12 in adjusted position with the bar 11 tilted to take up unequal slack in the cables 5 or to rock the curtain laterally if desired.

While a speeificarrangement of connections has herein been shown as desirable for the purpose intended, it is to beunderstood that various changes both in proportion of parts and in relative arrangement thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Actuating apparatus for theater curtains and the like comprising a power driven rotary shaft, a pulley'normally free to turn thereon, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, manually controlled means for operating the clutch to cause the pulley to turn with the shaft, connections between the pulley and curtain forraising and lowering the latter, and means acting after a predetermined movement of the curtain for operating the clutch to disconnect the pulley and shaft, said last named. means having a resilient connection with said clutch whereby to avoid shocks and noise inzoper'ating the device. r

2. Actuatingapparatus for theater curtains and the like comprising a rotary shaft, a" pulley normally free to turn thereon, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, a cable operable by the pulley forraising and lowering the. curtain, and means carried by the cable and operative after a prede termined movement of the latter for actuating the clutchto disconnect the pulley from the shaft, said last named means having a resilient connection with said clutch, whereby to avoid shocks and noise in operation.

8. Actuating apparatus for theater curtains and the like comprising a power driven rotaryshaft, a pulley normally free to turn on the shaft, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, an armfor'operating the clutch, manually operable means for mov ingsaid arm to engage the clutch, a cableoperable by the pulley for raising and low- V ering the curtain, a stop carried by the cable, and means resiliently engageable by the stop after a predetermined movement of the cable for moving the clutch arm to disengaging position, the resilient connection avoiding shocks and noise in operation.

4. Actuating apparatus for theater our tains and the like comprising a rotary shaft, a pulley normally free to turn thereon, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, the clutch having an actuating arm, a lever connected to said arm for moving it to clutch disengaging position, said lever having an aperture therein, a cable engaging the pulley and movable thereby to lift and lower the curtain, a stop fixed tothe cable and operable after a predetermined movement ofthe cable to move the lever whereby to disengage the clutch, and a spring surrounding the cable between the stop and said lever for the purposes described.

5. 'Actuating apparatus for. theater curtains and the like comprising a'rotary shaft,

ice

a pulley normally free 'to turn thereon, a I

clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft,

acable engaging the pulley to transmit mo tion from the latter to the curtain, manually operable means to engage the clutch to drive the pulley, [and means to disengage the clutch comprising a lever having an aperture for the passage of the cable, a stop moving with the cable for moving the lever aftera predetermined movement of the curtain, and resilient means interposed between the stop and lever.

6. Actuating apparatus for theater cur tains and the like comprising a rotary shaft, a pulley normally free to turn on the shaft, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, a cable passing over. the pulley to be moved thereby to transmit movement to the curtain, manually operable means for engaging the clutch to drive the pulley, and

means to disengage the clutch comprising alever having apertures for oppositely moving runs of the cable, a coil spring concentrio with each aperture encircling the respective runs of cable, and stops secured to the cable engageable with the respective Springs after a prei'letermilied movement of the cable in either direction to move the lever and thereby disengage the clutch.

7. Actuating apparatus for theater curtains and the like comprising a rotaryshaft, a. pulley normally free to turn thereon, a clutch for connecting the pulley to the shaft, an arm for controlling the clutch, a flexible connection secured to the arm for manually moving the clutch to engaging position, a cable passing about the pulley for transmitting movement to the curtain, and means for automatically disengaging the clutch comprising a twoairmed lever, toggle means connecting one arm of the lever with the clutch actuating arm, the other arm of the lever having apertures for the passage of the oppositely moving runs of the cable, cushioning elements concentric with said apertures, and stops fixed to the respective runs of cable engageable respectively with the respective cushionii'ig elements after a predetcrn'iined movement of the cable in either direction to more the lever and thereby dieeligage the clutch. i a

S. Actuating apparatus or theater-curtains and the like con'lprising a flexible cable attached to the curtain for raising and lowering it, power actuated means for decreasing the effective length of the cable to raise the curtain, and means independent of said power actuated means for tilting the curtain laterally.

Signed by me at Cambridge, Mass, this 11th day of April, 1924. A

EARLE F. ALLEN. 

